


Arcade

by riverscape



Series: Lockdown chronicles [1]
Category: JO1 (Japan Band)
Genre: Crushes, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Lockdown Fic, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Neighbors, One Shot, quarantine fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:47:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23803345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverscape/pseuds/riverscape
Summary: Takumi could tell that Ren liked him – liked him a lot.And Ren was always obvious about it.
Relationships: Kawanishi Takumi/Kawashiri Ren
Series: Lockdown chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101620
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	Arcade

Takumi could tell that Ren liked him – liked him a lot.

And Ren was always obvious about it.

Those around them may have interpreted that affection as the platonic kind, even the ones who stood closest to them. But they did not notice Ren’s long stares. His gaze lingered just a little too long on him. Takumi felt it on the back of his head, to the point of burning into his neck, and he felt it even more after they started living in the same building.

Whenever Takumi disappeared into his apartment, Ren’s eyes were always on him. As though he was desperate to invite him into one of those gaming sessions with the others, and yet deciding against it. Because Ren knew Takumi needed that time to recharge after hanging out with everyone after a long day of work.

Though one night, bored to death by a book, Takumi slipped in front of Ren’s door.

After hearing lone pinging sounds, still struggling and unskilled, he knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Ren was sat on the floor with his fingers still on the keyboard.

“Takumi?”

He nodded.

“Yeah, it’s just me,” Takumi said, stepping through the doorway. “How about playing that game you talked about at lunch?”

“Eh?”

“Or do you want to keep practicing?”

Ren’s face immediately brightened into a smile.

“No! Let’s play!”

Takumi wasn’t much of a gamer compared to the others, so he had Ren teach him the ins and outs – the tricks of each game they played. He was having a great time. It was so much fun they stayed up late almost every single time.

As a result, they decided to hang out together more often.

At least one night in the week.

Without the others around.

“I’ll come again next week. Around this time.”

Then Ren said, as if to make sure, “Sure. Just the two of us?”

Takumi quite liked having Ren to himself.

“Yeah, just us.”

And Ren?

“Alright.”

He obviously didn’t mind.

* * *

And then, in early Spring, all members were stuck in their respective rooms for an undetermined amount of time. There was enough time to read, clean, game and do their hobbies. Enough time to think about life in general.

That was how, at one point, Takumi sat down alone in his room, seriously contemplating what this all meant to him.

Because, if Ren really did like him… if he would ever confess, what would his own answer be?

Takumi was unable to answer that question himself.

Their relationship felt like one of those fated encounters he only saw or read in stories. Two completely different people from entirely different situations in the country meeting up. And yet having so much in common. It was kind of dramatic, almost fit for a manga… as Junki once told them. Takumi was an absolute sucker for those tropes, being a sentimentalist at heart.

But what Takumi felt while hanging out with Ren, was indescribable.

It wasn’t the kind of relationship that made his heart flutter or race.

Like in those movies.

Takumi just felt comfortable around him. It was just so much fun.

He wanted that feeling to last forever.

But one thing was certain. Ren would never make the first move.

He knew Ren treasured their friendship and collegiality too much to put it at risk.

Takumi tried not to think much about it anymore.

He had a simple reason for leaving the matter as it was: to protect himself.

He was afraid of wanting more than what they had right now, so he put a lid on those thoughts.

* * *

After a few days he went downstairs again, but this time the door of Ren’s tall neighbour opened.

“Keigo?”

“Ah, Takumi. You guys gonna game again?” Keigo said.

“Yeah.”

“I see,” he said. “You guys are always really quiet. Me and Sukai never noticed.”

The others only found out about their gaming sessions after hearing it from Ren on the radio.

“Well, I’m not Junki.”

Keigo laughed.

“Yeah. He’s always yelling about something,” he said while adjusting his long coat. “Anyway, have fun with your date.”

His jaw dropped.

“Hah?” Takumi said. “It’s not a date.”

“It’s not? Then can I join you guys? I wanna hang out with Ren too.”

Silence.

Takumi could not think of a good retort.

Keigo smirked. He was obviously teasing him.

“Why are you taking this so seriously?”

“I’m not. It’s just that—”

A door opened.

Ren poked his head out of the door.

“Ah, I knew I heard your voice.” Then he stared at Keigo. “You too? Wanna come in?”

Takumi had a sinking feeling when he heard that.

But to his relief Keigo held up a hand.

“Nah. Do whatever you want. I’m going out,” he said. “I got sick of staying inside the whole time.”

“Right…” Ren said. “Stay safe, Keigo.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll only take a walk.”

After Keigo departed from their sight, he let Takumi in.

Takumi was slipping off his shoes when he heard Ren’s voice again.

“I heard what Keigo said.”

He blinked, looking up at Ren.

“You were listening at the door?”

Ren smiled, sheepishly.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s… okay.”

They sat down in front of the TV and grabbed their remotes.

“Takumi… You’ve gone on dates before, right?” Ren said while starting up the game.

“Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Your conversation made me think… Where did you usually go on dates?”

“Hmm. To the cinema or a café…”

“Is gaming…” he paused. “Is going to an arcade a date?”

“No,” Takumi said, but backtracked after a second. “Well, it depends on the date.”

“Hmm. I see,” Ren said in a quiet voice.

Then they started the game.

But Takumi’s mind was elsewhere. Far from whatever showed up in front of him.

All he could think was about what Ren had just said.

It broke him up a little bit.

It got him to think about every single time he spent alone with Ren in this room.

But when Takumi glanced sideways, he found Ren’s expression to be stoic.

The air in the room was indescribably thick and tense.

Takumi wanted to apologize for saying something like that, but he didn’t know whether he should.

If he should keep quiet, behaving just as usual, like Ren was doing.

Pretending like nothing was wrong.

But his palms had turned sweaty, and his eyes. His eyes were tearing up.

Takumi was unable to recover himself, so it didn’t take long until Ren spoke up.

“You alright? Your playing style is… a bit off.”

That was the understatement of the century.

He was totally messing up.

Ren was aggressively attacking his Kirby like nobody’s business and Takumi was unable to turn the situation around.

“I’m fine.”

Ren must have noticed his tears because the pause screen suddenly showed up.

The noise from the TV disappeared.

“Takumi.” Ren put an arm around him and pulled Takumi close to his chest. “What’s wrong?”

His breath was warm against his ear.

He let his tears fall on Ren’s white shirt as they stayed like that for a while.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“For coming here. For saying dumb things. For giving you hope.”

For a long while, Ren didn’t say anything.

But it seemed like he finally understood that Takumi _knew_.

Because Ren’s voice sounded weak when he spoke again.

“Takumi… There’s nothing to feel sorry about.”

Takumi shook his head and pulled away from Ren.

“No.”

He wiped his tear-stained face with the sleeve of his shirt, then stared up at the other.

“I mean it,” Ren said with a smile. “Just you, coming here, being here with me makes me happy. So please don’t, don’t apologize.”

Although Ren smiled, his eyes looked defeated. He wasn’t even looking at Takumi.

He was just staring at the floor

_Oh god, he really messed up._

Takumi wanted to yell and scream, but for Ren’s sake he merely inhaled and let out a sigh.

He grabbed the hem of Ren’s white shirt, clenching it tightly.

“Ren… I know you don’t want to say it, but please…”

It took an agonizing amount of time for Ren to say something.

Ren buried his face into his hands.

“You know me too well.”

“…You’re kind of obvious.”

“I wasn’t planning on hiding it… I need to express it, sometimes.”

Takumi raised an eyebrow.

“Sometimes? I can’t count the amount of times you called me handsome and cute on my hands. You’re always staring at me, and giving me compliments.”

“But it didn’t bother you.” Ren lowered his hands. “You _liked_ the attention I gave you.”

Takumi groaned, letting go of Ren’s shirt.

Maybe he was right. Maybe he did enjoy it a little too much.

“But you never say the most important thing,” Takumi said, looking him straight in the eyes.

“Takumi…”

“We’ll be fine, Ren, after this. If you were worried about that.”

Ren moved his hand up to Takumi’s cheek, lightly caressing it with his thumb.

Takumi watched his lips move, forming the words he had wanted to hear.

“I love you.”

Ren’s expression softened into a smile.

It felt like a weight came off his shoulders, both of their shoulders.

Takumi looked away for a bit, hiding his mouth with his sleeve, almost breaking into a smile.

“Ren, can I say something too?”

“…Go ahead.”

Takumi felt it was only proper to kneel and sit down in front of him.

As expected, Ren was taken aback at the formality, but Takumi persisted and put his hands on his own knees.

He nearly stumbled over what he said next.

“A-after this, after this is over… C-can we go to an arcade?”

Ren’s eyes widened.

“Are you serious?”

Takumi nodded.

“Yeah.”

“…The two of us?” Ren tried to confirm again.

“Just you and me.” Takumi smiled. “No one else.”


End file.
